Three Weeks in Rehab – Day Ten

I awake and am horrified to find that her arm is still dislocated. I had heard up until the doctor trying, and had then fallen asleep at about 2am. I had no idea she hadn’t been able to get it back in until she told me what had happened.

She’s now on nil by mouth, in case they need to operate to it get it back on. She’s white as a sheet and looks awful.

At 9am we have a relaxation session – really badly timed. It’s in the conservatory which has no heating and of course is nothing but windows. Everyone is tired, and I think everyone just falls asleep in the session out of exhaustion, not relaxation! It’s run by Michele, who I’m not the biggest fan of!

At the end the girl with the dislocation is swaying on her feet, and we take her back to bed before she passes out.

A doctor comes to see her, and says the shoulder physiotherapist wants to try to get her shoulder back in, and would be down soon. If he couldn’t, then they’d move on to other options. She’s upset, she doesn’t want the physios to continue messing about. Luckily her physio is off today, as she doesn’t get along with her, and the one looking after her is much better. They leave her for ages before coming and collecting her to take her to the main physio room, which is a massive room filled with in-patients and out-patients and only a small curtain for privacy. They make her listen to music for an hour to relax her, before Andre, the physio gives it a go.

He manages to get it in, but tells her the technique she was taught would never have got it in, it could only be done by pulling it outwards, then moving her arm across her chest. We’re horrified they spent the night torturing her with a technique that never would have worked, and encourage her to raise a complaint. Unfortunately she won’t.

The girl in the bed opposite was told the day before they’d messed up and while she thought she had another week, there was another space. A nurse then found her in the morning and tells her there is good news – a bed has opened up, as someone who was on a two-week shoulder programme now only needed one. She’s really excited, and the nurse goes to check with the rest of the team.

However, in the afternoon the nurse comes back and tells her they’re sorry, but someone had already filled the slot so there is still no space. Her emotions have been up and down, and we all felt so bad for her.

I say goodbye to her, as well as the girl who’d suffered the dislocations. I will miss them both. Pretty much all my ‘friends’ are leaving except one, who I really like – but her bed is on the other side of the ward so I feel a bit isolated.